Electroplating of wire-cloth.



F. J. ROOT.

ELEGTROPLATING OF WIRE CLOTH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2, 1911.

v s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

F. J. ROOT.

ELEOTROPLATING 0F WIRE GLOTH. APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 2, 1911.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

P J. ROOT. ELEGTROPLATING 0F WIRE CLOTH.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 2, 1911. v 1,003,659. Patented Sept. 19, 1911.1

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS J. ROOT, OF NIENT YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO NEW YORK WIRE CLOTHCOM- PA NY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATIONOF WEST VIRGINIA.

ELECTROPLATING WIItZll-CILOTH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Sept. 19, 1911 Application filed June2, 1911. Serial No. 630,841.

To all whom it ma'y'concem: i 1

ll3e it known that I, FRANCIS J. Roo'r, a cltizen of the United. States,and a resident of the borough of -Manhattan of the city of- New York, inthe county and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Electroplating of Wire-Cloth, of which the followingis a specification.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in theelectroplating of long.

Figure 1 isa perspective view of the ap paratus showing the work inposition therein anda portion of the side of the tank re,- moved." Fig;2 is aside elevation showing the work in position and a portion of theside of the tank removed. Fig. is a transverse sectional view and Fig. 41s a partlal plan view.

The tank 1 is made of wood and is watertight to hold any suitable bathor solution which may be desired during the plating process. Within thelower portion of the tank and also above the tank are rollers 3 and 4:which extend transversely thereof. The-material, moved along by suit-a epull ing or propelling means, enters the'appa- 'ratus, passes over aroller in the upper set then down into the bath under a rollerof thelower set, out of the bathover another roller of the upper set and so onin vertical 'folds or loops through the apparatus. It

will be observed that the rollers are in staggered arrangement so thatthose in the lower "set are located below the spaces between ad- .jacentrollers of the upper set. Directly below the rollers of the upper setand above the rollers of the lower set are the metal anodes 5 forproviding the plating material.

The lower rollers 3 .are supported within thetank by means of bearings 6carried on the longitudinal members 7, and the upper rollers 4 aresupported .in metal bearings 8 carried on the longitudinally extendingmembers '9 and 10 which'are held in place by the uprights 10.

Either one or both of the members 9, see-Fig. 1, may be made of a metalwhich will readily conduct electricity and therefore can serve as a busbar or common electrical connecting means for the upper rollers orcathodes all of which are electricallyv connected thereto. This bus baror common electrical connecting means is connected to the negativeterminal of an electric'circuit the positive end ofwhich is connected tothe anodes.

Theanodes 5 are supported .in place by and T suspended from rods 11extending transversely across the upper portion of the tank. Each ofthese rods is provided with a depending member-l2-lea'ding to anotherbus bar or common electrical connecting means 13 to which the positiveterminal of the electrical circuit is connected. The anodes are providedwith hooks to hold them in place and it is obvious that one which hasbeen used can readily be .replacedby a new one, when desired. The anodesare arranged directly over t e lower rollsand beneath the upper rolls ndare located within the extremities of the ody portion thereof. It isapparent that said anodes are between adjacent vertically extendingportions of the folds or layers of t ewo'rk as it passes through theapparatus thereby bringing all portions of the two broad surfaces of thework close thereto, thus enabling a uniform. deposit of obtained.

' In coating pieces of work like wire cloth such as is used for ordinarywindow screening to keep out insects, this apparatus is particularlyuseful.

It will-be observed that the work passes out of the bath each time itpasses over an upper roller and this aids in breaking any bubbles of gaswhich may have been formed upon the work and also permits gas accumu-..lation to pass ofi'or dissipate into the atmosphere As the rollers inthe upper set are all connected to an end of the electric circuit thework passing thereover will also be recharged prior to beingreintroduced into the bath.

With the upper rollers or guiding means located above the bathit will beobservedthat the work can be readily inspected at all. stages in itsassage through the apparatus thereby permitting the apparatus to beoperthe coating substance upon the work to be ated and the process-to beeffected in the 15 ,wire cloth the process which consists in passwhilein the bath within which the lower All of the rollers as shown areprovided with flanges to retain the work in place 5 ,--"t hereupon. Thework could, however, be

retained place by other means if desired. The rollers, serve for guidingthe work through the apparatus and lso for providing means to conductthe e ectricity to thework at several points along its path through theapparatus; When driven they also serve as means for propelling the work.

1 It is obvious that various changes may be made without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention: 1. In the manufacturing of electroplated ingjina continuous path a long strip of Woven wire cloth alternately over andunder upperand lower rollers and electrically depositing the platingmaterial upon the cloth and while the work is intransit in the bath ofthe work.

' electrically depositing plating material thereupon from anodes locatedbetween the folds 3. In the manufacture of wire cloth the passing of along. stripof cloth through an 'elect-roplating'bath in the presence ofanodes composed of the plating metal located between adjacent layers ofthe cloth and simultaneously with the passing of the cloth thrbugh thebath sending an electric current to the anodes and leading said currentfrom the cloth at a plurality of places along the path of its travel.

4, The method which consists in bringing r a portion of a long strip ofwire cloth into an electroplating bath in the presence of anodescomposed of the plating metal in said bath and while said portion of thestrip is in the bath in the presence of said anodes sendto ing throughthe same an electric current over an electric circuit the positive poleof which is connected to the anodes and the negative pole of which isconnected to the cloth at' di'iferent points along the latter.

5. The method which consists in the passing of a long strip of wirecloth in a continuous path through a bath having therein anodes arrangedso that they are opposite to the fiat surfaces of the cloth andsupplying an electric current which passes in at the anodes and out ofthe cloth at several different points along its travel.

6. In the manufacture of wire cloth the passing of a long strip of saidcloth alternately over and under upper and lower rollers, at least thelower'ones of which are immersed in an electroplating bath, past anodeswhich are located between the folds of the cloth and supplying anelectric current which passes in through the anodes and which isconducted from those portions of the cloth which passes over the upperrollers.

.This specification signed and witnessed this 18th day of May,'A. D.,1911.

FRANCIS J. ROOT.

